Zachary's Birth Story

*This was written in January of 2016, right after Zack was born. When I discovered it saved to my log, I knew I had to save it to post on his actual birthday. So, here's Zachary's birth story....

I've wanted to sit down, and write this post since we brought Zack home from the hospital. But, life has prevailed, and truth be told I'm neglecting loading my dishwasher (for the third time today) to sit down get get this story written while it still fresh.

Let's start at the beginning. On Friday, December 11, 2015 I was having a very run of the mill day. Jake had left for work, and Nolan and I were just finishing up lunch, when I grabbed the broom to sweep up remains of PB&J. Half way through the task, I felt a huge gush of water. My immediate thought was, "Oh man, I hope that's not blood" (a particular paranoia I had since my bleeding problem during my pregnancy with Nolan). I quickly realized it was my water breaking, and that it would soon be showtime. I put the broom down long enough to call Jake at work, then the cascade of family that I needed to notify. Somehow, I did manage to sweep up the sandwich before everyone rushed in.

We got to the hospital about an hour later. They confirmed that my water had broken, and we were sort of in-limbo waiting to see when my contractions would begin. Our doctor came to see us (the 1 doctor that I prayed wouldn't be on call the day I went into labor (read: Nickname C-section King), was the exact person on call...figures) and told us that we would give it until the next morning for my labor to begin, then if nothing happened, they would start me on pitocin. It's no secret that I loved the L&D experience I had with Nolan. It was a beautiful, natural delivery that went exactly like I had imagined it. I was prepared mentally for another natural birth for Zack, but the old adage, "No two births are the same," is horribly accurate. That night  I walked the halls like I was in some sort of race trying to get contractions started. I was practically running back and forth for hours, dragging my IV pole along for the ride. When I wasn't walking, I was sitting on a labor ball, rocking back and forth.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I attempted to sleep, knowing that the next day we would meet Zachary, and begin our life as a family of 4, but trying to sleep on a labor and delivery bed is sort of like trying to sleep on a bed of plywood. No matter what it will never be comfortable.

The next morning I was up at 0400. I decided to take a hot bath, thinking that if I could relax maybe it would be a last ditch effort to get labor going. Still nothing. So, around 0600 they started the pitcoin. Let me just preface the next few sentences by saying, that I have an incredibly high pain tolerance. I had no problem breathing through contractions, and visualizing the end goal while in labor with Nolan. But pitcoin is a devil. A very mean devil. It comes on strong, and doesn't let up. I literally went from having zero contractions to having contractions every 2 minutes. After about an hour, I was hardly able to breathe through each one, and told Jake that I would definitely need an epidural. It was either that, or poor Jake would probably lose a hand. I held off as long as I possibly could, then prayed I could make it through the epidural process before the medicine kicked in. (Think sitting indian style on a bed, with a huge pregnant belly, while trying to bend over and keep your entire body relaxed and still.)

The first contraction I had after the medicine kicked it, I was able to talk through. I was giddy that I could no longer feel the pain of the contractions. I kept saying, "It's so weird, I can't feel my legs." And I literally couldn't feel my legs at all. You could of amputated it with me watching, and I wouldn't of felt it. It was about an hour later (around 9 am), that I was fully dilated, and ready to start pushing. The last thing my best friend said to me before I left for the hospital was, "Push like you are pooping." (Blunt and kind of gross, but true.) So, what do you do when you're numb from the waist down, and they tell you to push? You guessed it. I must pause to say, that a few weeks later Jake told me that I actually did poop. More than once, and that basically traumatized me. Real life moment right there...YUCK. (I'm so sorry Nancy! <my L&D nurse) I pushed for about an hour when I started to feel different. The only way I can describe it, was a loopy kind of dizzy feeling. Jake said that my lips turned blue, but my amazing nurse Nancy was quick to respond when she realized my blood pressure had tanked. (75/45) I've always been insanely sensitive to medicine, and I guess the epidural was a little to much for my body to handle. I only mention this because of this lovely picture.....Thanks, hubby. 

After my epidural was turned down, we came to the realization that even after an hour of pushing, Zack still hadn't moved. They contorted my bed into a weird chair like configuration, in an attempt for gravity to help him move down, but after 2 hours of sitting like that Zack still hadn't budged. It was then realized that he was "face up," and no matter what I did, I wasn't able to push him past my pelvic bone.We knew that a C-section was inevitable, seeing as I had already been in labor for several hours, and we were starting to risk putting Zack (and me) under stress.

I can honestly say that before L&D, a C-section was my worst fear. I absolutely didn't want one. But when the time came, I was so at peace knowing that this was how Zack needed to enter the world, and that God would take care of me. Jake and I prayed together before I went back to OR, and we were ready to meet our sweet baby. The OR staff was very friendly, and my doctor explained that it would only take 20 minutes or so, and that I would be in recovery snuggling with Zack.

True to his estimate, Zack was born not long after Jake came into the OR. They told him he could stand up, and watch Zack enter the world, and I have to admit that I was a bit horrified that my husband could see my organs laying outside my body. But it didn't matter when I heard that sweet little cry. Oh man, my heart grew instantly, and my arms ached to hold my little man. It was then that we realized in the rush of prepping for OR that we forgot our camera, our video recorder, and even our cell phones. (We are so with it, let me tell you.) Thankfully, the anesthesiologist was kind enough to take pictures with his phone, and text them to me. (THANK YOU, doctor!) Not long after these pictures were taken, Jake left the OR with Zack, and I was to "be right behind them."

That's when the proverbial crap hit the fan. After a few minutes of listening to my doctor repeatedly "sigh," he told me that he was having to use some different stitching techniques to stitch up my uterus, and that was what was taking so long. I laid there counting ceiling tiles, praying that this would end quickly, so that I could be with my husband and baby. Nancy again was such a comfort, popping around the curtain to tell me that they would be finished soon. (That meant more than you know, Nancy!) That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks...a rush of nausea washed over me so quickly, that I could hardly utter the words, "I think I'm going to throw up," before I put the words into action. To throw up, while laying on your back, numb from the waist down is an experience. To paint a picture, I threw up all over the surgical curtain, all over the anesthesiologist, all over the floor, all over myself. Thankfully, I hadn't eaten but it was still ugly. The rest of the story, I didn't learn until the next day when the doctor came to check on me.

My violent throwing up, caused all the fresh stitches to rip out, and in doing this, it also caused me to start bleeding from other places as well. We were right back to square one, and he had to stitch me up all over again. I was still clueless at this point about what was really going on, but when I heard the doctor tell the nurse to "put 3 units on standby," I knew that I was majorly bleeding, and all I could do was lay there and pray. I don't remember a whole lot after this time, and I later learned that I had been given some versed, and only remember waking up "snoring," and being mortified that I was sleeping through my C-section.

The next thing I remember was being wheeled out of the OR and into recovery. Seeing Jake, and then holding my sweet baby was priceless. I had lots of questions about what had happened, but at that moment the only thing that mattered was holding my baby.


I found out later that because I had been in labor for so long prior to my C-section, it caused my uterus to be "boggy." Which in medical terms means soft, and uncooperative. That caused my doctor to struggle with stitching it up initially. Then like I said before, throwing up caused everything to be ripped out, and the bleeding to start up again. I found out the next day that another doctor was called in to assist, it took 19 suture packs to finish the surgery, and I was "in the top 5 worst C-sections" in my doctor's 20 year career. Not really a list I wanted to end up on.  I walked away with 22 staples across my belly, and had the pleasure of having a JP drain coming out of my stomach for 24 hours to drain off excess blood. (That's really fun to deal with when nursing.) The 20 minute surgery ended up taking a little over 2 hours, and the recovery was one of the most difficult things I've ever experienced. Jake had to lift me into bed, help me get dressed, and even help me shower. We joked that the "for worse" part of our marriage vows had come a little early, but I've never been more thankful for his love and support. 

Despite all of this, I feel like I can't complain. We were blessed with a beautiful, healthy son. Ultimately, that's all that mattered. I moved slowly for several weeks, but my body healed, and now I have a scar to show what we have been through. Kind of like a battle wound of sorts. Zack's birth was unlike anything I had dreamed about during pregnancy, and it will be quite a story to tell Zack when he's older. But our faith brought us through, and God was with me the entire time. I'm exceedingly grateful for my doctor, nurse Nancy, and all the other medical staff that took care of me. It made the process bearable knowing that we had people helping us that truly cared. And our family. How can I even express how grateful I am for them? I've heard the adage, "it takes a village," but when you walk through something difficult, you realize just how amazing that village of family truly is.

Happy 1st Birthday, Zachary. You'll never know how much you are loved. 

Nolan's Birth Story - Part 2

Before I get into the details of Nolan's birth, I thought a little prelude would be helpful to set the scene. 

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to have a natural childbirth. It was one of those life experiences that I really wanted to check off my bucket list. I am in awe at the beautiful, and powerful way the human body knows exactly what to do when it comes to labor and delivery. In my opinion, modern medicine doesn't give the body enough credit. We are truly designed by God. I realized early on that things don't always work out the way you planned it, so during my pregnancy I prayed my heart out that I could have the birth experience I wanted. 

I thought it was important to prepare myself for natural delivery. I knew it would be the most physically demanding thing my body has ever done, and I didn't want to leave anything to chance. We had intended to take Bradley classes, but the classes were weekly in Lexington for 12 weeks, and that just wasn't practical with Jake's work schedule. So, I read everything I could get my hands on. My favorite was the book "Ina Mae's Guide to Childbirth." If you are expecting, I highly recommend it. It's chalk full of inspirational stories, and very informative in describing the way labor progresses. I digress, I had plenty of people tell me that I would change my mind, or that I would beg for medicine after I felt the first hard contraction, but I made up my mind that given the opportunity I would have him naturally. (By the way, don't be one of those negative people!)

So, back to our story...

After my water broke, my room went from dark and quiet, to bright and busy. Jake set to calling our parents, while I talked to the nurse, and waited for the resident physician to come in and "officially" check to make sure my water had broken. Jake and I kept repeating how excited we were to meet our son! 

My contractions started off around 6 or 7 minutes apart, and were moderate in pain level. In Ina Mae's book, she talks about how powerful visualization can be. So, as crazy and "granola" as it sounds, during each contraction I would visualize myself carrying the baby to the top of my favorite mountain. (Mt. Leconte in GSMNP). I thought about not sharing this part because it's so cheesy, but the truth is thinking about the journey to the top of the mountain really helped me get through the pain of contractions. As labor progressed, the journey became more difficult, and my focus shifted to the breathtaking peak and the vast, open landscape.  Another important aspect of this visualization, was focusing my breathing. I'm by no means an expert at meditation, but I had used deep breathing techniques for years to help control my stress levels. I'm really showing my "crunchy" side, but there is something to be said for meditation. It's a powerful tool.

The day progressed like it should for a woman in labor. Our families showed up before the sun rose, and settled in for a long day of waiting. Around 11 am, our favorite nurse, Mollee came into work, and Jake and I were thrilled that she would be our nurse on this important day. We had learned earlier in the week that Mollee had actually trained as a midwife while she lived in England. And she was super knowledgeable about natural childbirth. Talk about a huge blessing! It was a comfort to know that someone on the medical side of things understood my desire for a drug free delivery, and wouldn't pressure me into something I didn't want. It was her idea to not mention the "M" word (medicine) unless I brought it up. (It was really helpful to not focus or even think about medicine at all.)

My parents, and Jake's Dad stayed in the room for the majority of the morning. Offering words of encouragement, or a hand to squeeze during a painful contraction. The support of our families was indescribable.  I could literally feel all the prayer, and the love supporting me. In retrospect, for me childbirth was an extremely emotional, and spiritual experience. At one point, I swear I could even feel the love coming from my Gram and Pap Porter, and told my parents that I could feel them near.

One of the funniest things happened right before my labor changed from active to transitional. I was definitely not my normal self, and in between contractions, I would be aware of what was going on around me, but mostly stayed in my own little 'zoned out' world. I kept telling Jake that I was nauseated, but it hadn't progressed to anything but a feeling, until my friend Megan came in. I remember Mom telling me that she was there, and I wanted to see her, so I asked Mom to show her into the room. Megan was only a week and half behind me in our pregnancies, and we had gotten to experience everything at basically the same time. The second she walked over to my bedside, I looked up and said, "I have to throw up!" And without hesitation she grabbed a bucket, and held it while I took care of business. That was the only thing I was able to say to Megan that day, but talk about a good friend! We laughed about it later, but I was thankful she wasn't too grossed out by my greeting.

After I threw up, my contractions became almost unbearable, and with only a minute or two break in between. At this point, I did become a little unglued. I needed oxygen for a short while, but the mask on my face made me feel incredibly claustrophobic. The pain of the contractions, along with the intense claustrophobic feeling made me feel like I wasn't in control. It was at this point that I kicked everyone out of the room, except Jake. I actually don't remember kicking everyone out, but things were getting serious, and I needed to focus.

The doctor came into check my progress, and I was almost dilated to a 9. But before I could regain control of my breathing, I said the dreaded words...."pain medicine." Jake and Mollee talked me through each contraction, allowing me to squeeze hands, and Mollee showed Jake a place on my back to push that helped immensely. During the few contractions I had while waiting for an anesthesiologist, I was able to regain control of myself, and focus more on my breathing. So, when they tried explaining the epidural procedure, I said, "No thank you!" And we proceeded with the original plan. Once the transitional stage began things progressed so quickly. Before I knew it, I was feeling pressure and wanted to push.

The rest of the time went by so quickly for me. At this point, I was basically in my own world. Solely focused on the task ahead of me. My comfort was Jake and Mollee's persistence when I needed them the most. One of each side, talking me through each second of pain.  I asked Jake later, and he said that I pushed 4 or 5 times before he was born. Before the last push, he had already crowned, and the NICU staff, and the attending physician wasn't in the room yet. So, I had to pause for a few minutes until everyone was present. Then one push or so later, David Nolan Mosley made his grand entrance into the world. Completely perfect, screaming his head off, and by far the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. I remember opening my eyes, and seeing him for the first time in the physician's hands. I quickly snapped back into reality, and my first thought was "That's my son!" Jake was able to cut the umbilical cord before they took him to a side room to be examined by the NICU staff. Jake went with the baby, and they kept me posted for the few minutes they examined him. He had APGAR scores of 9 and 9. (APGAR is test to quickly assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth. Scores are taken at 1 and 5 minutes, with 10 being an unattainable perfect.) Talk about a huge relief! Our prayers had been answered, he had arrived early, but he was perfectly healthy! He was 4 pounds 9 ounces, and 17.5 inches long.

They brought him out to me all swaddled and beautiful. I got to hold him for a minute before they wisked him away to the NICU. It was a huge relief that he didn't need any interventions like oxygen, etc. 

David Nolan Mosley

I learned later that both of my parents decided to hang out behind the curtain in the room for the delivery. And my Dad was able to record Nolan's first cries. It brings tears to my eyes to hear his little cry, and to see all the staff in the room prepared for anything. 

First time holding my baby!

The great thing about natural childbirth, is in no time I was on my feet, dressed and ready to go visit my son in the NICU. Jake insisted that I ride up to the NICU in a wheelchair (much to my dismay), and we had a hilarious experience with the tire coming off the rim. Standing in the hall way trying to fix it, totally exhausted, and slap happy!  It was just one of those side stories that I will always remember. That night I got to finally hold my Nolan skin to skin. The pure joy of feeling my sweet baby laying on my chest was so immense, it's hard to put into words. It made everything worth it. It sounds cliche, but the pain didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was the baby laying in my arms.

I was fortunate that the recovery process was incredibly easy. I didn't have all the pain some women talk about. I moved a little more slowly, but it felt great to be up and moving around. I can't say enough amazing things about the staff at UKMC. They took such excellent care of me. In a lot of ways, the birth process wasn't at all what I expected, but then again nobody plans on having a baby 8 weeks early. In other ways, it was better than I could have imagined. 

Having a natural childbirth was an incredible experience. But becoming a parent is one of the greatest blessings. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank Heavenly Father for this sweet little blessing. It's hard to believe my little baby is almost 7 weeks old! If you need me, I'll be snuggling my little peanut, and soaking up every second of baby bliss! Thanks for reading! 

Up next, the NICU experience...

Nolan's birth story - Part 1

It still surprises me that our sweet Nolan is already 6 weeks old, and technically I should still be pregnant! I thought for sure that I would have him close to his due date in September, but God had other plans!  Even though his arrival surprised us, my birth experience was so much better than I could have imagined.

On Tuesday, July 15, I woke up around 3:30 in the morning with some serious cramps. The day before had been a relatively normal day, with the exception that I had been to the vet with Maddie, and had to schedule her for surgery the next day. (She had pyrometra, an infection in her uterus.)  So, when I awoke at 3:30 am with cramps, I assumed that the culprit was stress, and that I needed to drink some water and relax. I took a long bath, and after an hour the bath turned into a shower, and yet the cramping continued. Around 5:30 am, I finally decided to call the OB ward at St Joseph-London. When I explained my symptoms, they told me I should come in and get checked. But the stubborn side of me still wasn't

convinced that the cramping was anything more than stress and dehydration. I didn't want to be one of those women who run to the hospital for every little pain.  So, I drank some more water and continued watching the 'Biggest Loser' on Hulu for another 30 or so minutes. Eventually, I went to the bathroom only to notice a tiny amount of blood, a undeniable ticket to the hospital. So, I woke Jake up and off we went. We still had not called our parents, because we "assumed" it was nothing.  After all, I was only 32 weeks, and all of the normal labor signs hadn't occurred. 

When we arrived at the hospital, we were quickly met by a sweet nurse named Emily. She started an IV, and got me somewhat settled into a bed. At the end of what seemed 200 questions, she checked me to see if I happened to be dilated. We were all shocked to discover that I was dilated to a 2, and 100% effaced! My doctor was out of town, so I saw one of the doctors on call who arrived within a few minutes of the nurses assessment.  She quickly confirmed what Emily had told us, and without hesitation said that they would be sending me to UKMC for preterm labor. To say that Jake and I were shocked is an understatement. I didn't have a bag packed, I didn't have all my freezer meals made, and all I could think was, "I have 20 pounds of peaches sitting on my counter to be canned today?!" I had never been in the hospital before, and now I was hooked up to an IV, had a catheter placed, and was being transported via an ambulance.  WHAT?

While they were prepping me to be transferred, Jake's Dad Moe, and I had to figure out how we were going to get Maddie to the vet, and back. It was imperative that she had the surgery that day, because we didn't want the infection to spread, or get worse. I was heartbroken that I couldn't be there for my little princess. I knew she would be scared, but my brother n law Caleb took excellent care of her. He made sure to give her lots of love, and she sailed through the procedure without complication.

Of course, the one day in my 31 years on this planet that I would need EMS transport, is also the day that I-75 was closed due to a hazardous chemical spill. So a drive that would normally take an hour, took over 2 hours traveling back roads at an alarmingly fast speed with lights, and sirens roaring the entire time. When we left the hospital, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart, and varied in intensity. They had started me on a medication called Magnesium Sulfate to help stop the contractions, and the bolus of medicine instantly made me feel flush and hot. That combined with the pain from the contractions made for a miserable ride.  Emily, the nurse accompanied the all female EMS crew. They were so kind as we drove along, telling me stories about their own childbirth experiences, and trying to take my mind off what was actually happening. After a while, I inquired as to whether they always drive with lights, and sirens, and was told that they didn't want me to have a baby in the back of an ambulance...talk about putting things in perspective. Thankfully, the medicine started doing it's job, and by the time we arrived at UK my contractions has slowed down to one every 10 minutes or so.

A very tired, and somewhat medicated selfie

When we finally arrived at UK, it was so awkward being pushing through the hospital. I'm used to being on the employee side of healthcare, and this was a totally new experience. We finally arrived at the OB ward, and as soon as we turned the corner to the triage area, there stood my Mom asking if I had arrived. It was a relief to see her, and I had to laugh at the impeccable timing. Not long after we arrived, Jake and his Dad, my Dad, and Kally all arrived. Jake's Mom was on vacation in the Dominican Republic, and was beside herself to get home. I definitely felt loved having so many people there! At first they didn't have a labor and delivery room available. So, while we were waiting, they had us in the triage area that was the equivalent size of a broom closet. I was only allowed 1 visitor at a time, so it was a constant stream of family going in and out. What stands out the most, was Kally and I laughing uncontrollably about lots of random things. We kept joking that they were going to kick me out, because I was laughing to much to "be in labor."

Where all the medicine action happened

Finally, our amazing nurse Mollee came and took us back to our labor and delivery room. It felt like a palace compared to the broom closet we had been in. Then we settled in for the long haul. They told me early on, that I would be in the hospital until I had him, because my "bag of water" was bulging, and could be felt when they checked me. Our goal was for me to hold off going into labor for 48 hours, mostly so I could have two rounds of steroids to help Nolan's lungs develop. So, I spent the day in bed hooked up to an IV of constant medicine that made me feel increasingly "loopy," as the day progressed. That evening we were blessed with so many awesome visitors...Dave and Kayla, Jon and Joe, Dustin and Rebecca, and of course our family camped out for the long haul. 

The view from my L &D room.

The next day, was basically a repeat of the first, except they took me off the Magnesium sulfate. I was finally able to eat, but was still mostly confined to my bed. Throughout the day, I would have a random contraction here and there, but the medicine had done it's job, and my labor had stopped. I was hopeful that I might be able to make it a few days before my water broke, but oh man was I wrong.

At 2:00 am on July 17, I was asleep, and woke up just enough to roll over in bed and think, "Oh man, that was a strong contraction," then BAM my water broke. It was undeniable, and in abundance. Jake was asleep in the recliner next to my bed, and the room was dark and quiet. I laid there for a few minutes taking in the fact that I would have a baby that day. And said a huge prayer of protection for Nolan and I. Overall, I wasn't nervous at all, just preparing myself for what was to come. I woke Jake up, who immediately set to pacing the floor, and calling our parents. It was go time!

More tomorrow!